On 30 March 2021 LSBU completed its submission to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021). The REF is the Government’s system for assessing research quality in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): its results inform the annual allocation of over £1bn of funding and can heavily influence an institution’s standing.
LSBU’s REF 2021 submission was an endeavour that involved contributions from over 200 staff from across the university. With 199 staff returned, LSBU achieved a 72% increase on REF 2014 in the number of staff submitted: by comparison, the average increase in the number of staff submitted by UK universities was 46%.
The huge progress made by LSBU since REF 2014 and its REF 2021 journey are described on this page, alongside LSBU’s REF 2021 Code of Practice, which underpinned much of the submission.
The Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF 2021) results were published on 12 May 2022. They show that 68% of the research submitted by LSBU to REF was world leading or internationally excellent, a 14 percentage point rise from the last time REF results were published in 2014. Here are some of the top headlines from the REF 2021 results:
In order to build on the success of LSBU’s REF 2014 submission, a key priority was the strengthening of our Research Environment. Key activities undertaken in support of the goal of creating a truly world-class research environment at LSBU included:
LSBU is proud of the step-change that has been delivered in its research environment and the significant research achievements it has made in the 2014-2021 period. Moreover, LSBU’s mission to realise a world-class research environment, delivering leading edge, impactful, interdisciplinary research, continues apace. At present, LSBU is:
For further information regarding LSBU’s REF 2021 submission and related-activities, please contact the REF coordinator: Dr Karl Smith.
The REF Code of Practice describes, for each institution submitting to the REF, the:
LSBU submitted its REF 2021 Code of Practice for approval in early June 2019. Approval from Research England of LSBU’s REF 2021 Code of Practice was received on 8 November 2019. In October 2020, a number of amendments were made to LSBU’s Code of Practice in order to: 1) take into account changes to the REF timetable in light of COVID-19; 2) update references to named individuals/roles where replacements for roles were enacted due to changes in personnel; and 3) address and eliminate omissions, errors and out-of-date references in the text.
The key changes to LSBU’s REF Code of Practice (CoP) made are as follows:
On 30 July 2021 the definitive version of the LSBU REF 2021 Code of Practice was issued. This version supersedes the initial version of the REF Code of Practice issued to all staff on 2 May 2019 and the subsequent versions issued on 8 May 2019, 7 June 2019 and 9 October 2020.
See LSBU’s approved, amended, REF 2021 Code of Practice (PDF File 2,109 KB).
For further information regarding LSBU's REF 2021 submission, please contact the REF Coordinator: Dr Karl M. Smith
The institution submits the Code of Practice to Research England | 7 June 2019 |
Funding bodies notify institutions that their respective code of practice documents meets REF requirements; or requests resubmission of the Code of Practice | 16 August 2019 |
Institution resubmits code of practice to Research England | 20 September 2019 |
Funding bodies notify institutions that the code of practice meets REF requirements; or requests a second resubmission of the code of practice | By 8 November 2019 |
Institution resubmits code of practice to funding bodies | 15 November 2019 |
Funding body notifies institution whether or not code of practice meets REF requirements | 29 November 2019 |
The REF census date for staff; end of assessment period for research impacts, the research environment and data about research income and research doctoral degrees awarded | 31 July 2020 |
End of publication period (cut-off point for publication of research outputs, and for outputs underpinning impact case studies) | 31 December 2020 |
Deadline for providing further details for outputs pending publication; redacted versions of impact case studies; and corroborating evidence held for impact case studies | 29 January 2021 |
The REF submission deadline | 31 March 2021 |